1. The purpose of this note is to remind importers of steel and steel products to use General Import Permit No. 80 – Carbon Steel (GIP 80), or General Import Permit No. 81 – Specialty Steel Products (GIP 81) on release requests for all steel imports covered by the Import Control List of the Export and Import Permits Act.
2. As of April 1, 2012, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) eliminated the need to provide an individual or multi-load permit electronic transaction record or paper copy of the transaction record to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) with a release request. Instead, importers may import steel and steel products in any quantity, value, for commercial or personal use under the authority of a General Import Permit.
3. Importers using Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD) or Pre-arrival Review System (PARS) must meet the conditions of the GIP and quote the General Import Permit, GIP 80 for Carbon Steel, or GIP 81 for Specialty Steel Products on the release documentation (e.g. description of goods field on the invoice) or in the description free text field, when release requests are transmitted to the CBSA using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
4. Steel and steel products are eligible for Customs Self Assessment (CSA) clearance and are exempt from GIP requirements at the time of CSA clearance. CSA importers not using CSA clearance must quote the GIP No. on release documentation as described in paragraph 3 above.
5. Failure to quote the GIP No. on the release documentation or in the release request could result in an AMPS penalty assessment.
6. For assistance in determining which GIP to quote please refer to DFATD’s Handbook of Export and Import Commodity Codes – 2012 Sections C-2: Carbon Steel and Specialty Steel.
7. For more information on import controls, or the steel and steel products monitoring program please visit the Export and Import Control page of DFATD’S website.
8. For more information contact the CBSA’s Border Information Service:
- Tel.: 1-800-461-9999 (toll-free calls within Canada)
- Tel.: 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064 (charges apply for calls outside Canada)
This notice is available on the CBSA website at:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/cn-ad/cn14-027-eng.html